Sealing machine and the like



June 1945- L. E. LA BOMBARD SEALING MACHINE AND THE LIKE Filed Sept. 10, 1942 3 Sheets-Sheet l Ill llllLlllIl l l J I I I oswwh u 1 i l I l x June 26, 1945. L. E. LA BOMBARD SEALING MACHINE AND THE LIKE Filed Sept. 10, 1942 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 my 3. we 3. Ne

lnvenTor. Leon E.LuBomburd June 26, 1945. 5 LA BQMBARD 2,379,361

SEALING MACHINE AND THE LIKE Filed Sept. 10, 1942 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 Fig.7 53

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*"Q \35 I35 L eon E.LuBomburd b is r" 134 2a 7 Patented June 26, 1945 SEALING MAOBIN! AND THE LIKE LeoniaLaBemMNashmMma-ignerto Machine The International Paper Box Oompeny, Nashua, N. IL, a corporation of New Hampshire Application September I0, 1942, Serial No. 451,827

11 Chime.

This invention relates to mechanism for selectively operating upon a single article or a group of articles being moved along a guideway, and the object thereof is to provide means for temporarily arresting the articles to cause them to dwell with means for performing an operation upon the articles during said dwell.

A further object of the invention is to provide mechanism of the character described with two guideways with means for alternately feeding an article or a group of articles to the respective guideways, alternately causing the articles in one guideway to dwell during the movement of the articles along the other guideway with means for performing an operation on the article or group of articles which is stationary during said dwell.

Another object of the invention is to provide novel means for selectively feeding an article or a group of articles to the guideway or guideways.

More specifically, the invention relates to machines for sealing envelopes or bags of thermplastic material or having edge portions of thermoplastic material by use of heating bars, and the invention is illustrated and described herein as embodied in mechanism for sealing the contiguous edges of folded sheets of thermoplastic material or folded sheets having superimposed contiguous edge portions provided with thermoplastic adhesive material. The sheets from which the envelopes or bags are made are so folded that edge portions of the material overlap each other. When heat is applied to any of the overlapped portions, a. seal is effected, therefore bags of various shapes and sizes can be made.

It is customary to effect such sealing by heated rollers, but it is found that rotary sealing is not as dependable as sealing by flat heated bars of varied designs where the heat and dwell canv be better regulated for best results as the sealing materials are critical to pressure and dwell of the heating means as well as the shape and pattern of the seals. This has heretofore been accomplished mainly by manual operation necessarily of slow process.

It is found that the best results are obtained by utilizing heated bars where the heat is controlled to a plus or minus one degree. These bars are made to close upon the material and allowed to remain or dwell for one second or more. An equal length of time is allowed to open the jaws and again'close them.

In mechanisms heretofore employed it is possible to seal as many as thirty large bags per minute, which are, for example, 36-72 in. in

length, a greater percentage of the bass however are from nine to fifteen inches in length.

By reason of the presentinvention, means are provided for feeding into the laws of the heated bars while open, a plurality of bags to form a group of two to four as illustrated herein, and a machine may be selectively operated to feed single bags or groups of two. three, or more, and the sealing of each group accomplished in the same time as that required for the sealing of a single long bag. This obviously results in greater production, conservation of heat, more uniform heating regulations of the bar. as the heat is dissipated uniformly throughout its length.

These and other obiects and. features of the invention will more fully appear in the following description and the accompanying drawings, and will be particularly pointed out in the claims.

A preferred embodiment of the invention is illustrated in the drawings as a machine for sealing together the side edges of a sheet of thermoplastic material which has been previously folded transversely midway of its length thereby to form an envelope, bag. or container which will be waterproof and will therefore serve as a container for liquid, semi-liquid, or other materials, and which if the open end of the bag is similarly sealed, will eflectively be impervious to the admission of air or moisture vapor, and will therefore preserve the contents of the bag indefinitely.

Preferred embodiments of the invention are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which,

Fig. 1 is a side view partially in elevation, and partially in section of a front-end portion of a sealing machine embodying the invention;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged detail sectional view showing a recess in the feeding cylinder and frictional article engaging means detachably mounted therein;

Fig. 3 is a similar view illustrating a block or blank that is substituted for the frictional member where a feeding of a blank during the rotation of the feeding cylinder is not desired;

Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 1 illustrating the rear-end portion of the machine and is a continuation of Fig. 1;

Fig. 5 is a detail view of a portion of the feeding cylinder and the front-end portion of sealing mechanism where a single guideway for the articles to be sealed is emp oyed;

Fig. 6 is a plan view of a bag .or envelope liner folded within a box blank, a portion of the box blank being illustrated in dotted lines in extended position:

Fig. "I is an enlarged transverse sectional view of the upper and lower guideway for the articles to be sealed, mechanism for moving the articles along the respective guideways, the cooperating heated sealing bars showing them in position to seal articles in one of the guideways while the other guideway is open to receive an article or a group of articles:

Fig. 8 is an enlarged detail view showing the upper and lower guideways and the mechanism for alternately clamping the articles to be sealed on one of the guideways with rollers for simultaneously pressing the articles upon the track of the other guideway;

Fig. 9 is a plan view of the construction illustrated in Fig. 8, and I Fig. 10 is a transverse sectional view showing the upper and lower side of a box or carton with the thermoplastic sealing envelope therebetween, and illustrating portions of the carton forming the side of the box bent downwardly to expose the edges of the envelope for heat sealing.

The machine illustrated herein comprises parallel side frames I, having at their front and rear ends respectively, legs 2 and l which rest on the floor (Figs. 1 and 4) andare connected by suitable front tie rods including a tie rod 4, other tie rods 5, 8, and 1, near the front end, and tie rods 8, 9, and I near the rear end (Fig. 4). The side frames are also provided with upward extensions intermediate of the tie rods 5, 6, 1, and the front end of the machine which are connected by an arch ll preferably in the form of a channel bar upon which is mounted a suitable hopper for supporting a stack of blanks or other articles to be operated upon as will hereinafter more fully appear.

The machine comprises a guldeway or preferably two guideways which extend longitudinally of the machine with means for successively feeding single articles, or a predetermined number of articles to form a group, to said guideway or alternately to each of said guideways, means for moving the articles along the guideway, and means for arresting the single article or a group of articles in predetermined positions to permit an operation to be performed upon an article or group of articles during the dwell thereof..

The guideways are formed by parallel pairs of upper and lower track members and an intermediate pair of track members gl'he lower track members as shown herein comprise lower parallel bars II which are mounted near their ends fixedly upon the tie rods 8 and l. The upper track members are in the form of similar parallel bars mounted near their ends upon the tie rods and 8, and the intermediate track members comprise relatively narrower parallel bars II which are mounted adjacent their ends upon cross girders l5 and it which are mounted in the side frames I.

Suitable means are provided for moving the article or articles lengthwise of the guideways. As illustrated herein such means comprises a lower,endless belt l1 which is mounted upon pulleys l8 and it which are respectively mounted upon a shaft 20 Journalled in the front end of the track members l2, and upon a shaft 22 at the rear end of the track members which is journaled at its ends in the side frames I. The upper run of the belt l1 extends in parallelism with and is substantially flush with the upper walls of the lower track members if. A similar endless belt 23 is mounted at its front end upon a pulley 24, the shaft 2! of which is Journaled in ment of the clamping the front end of the upper track members II and at its rear end upon a pulley 28 which is mounted upon a shaft 21 which is .lournaled in the rear ends of the side frames l. The lower run of the endless belt 23 is flush with the lower walls of the track members It. Suitable spacing and belt-supporting plates 28, and 20 are interposed respectively between the track members I! and between the track members It and are connected to the respective track members by oppositely extending screws 10 which are mounted in vertical slots near the edges of the track members and are provided with shouldered heads of greater diameter than the width of the slots thereby enabling the belt-supporting plates to be adjustably positioned properly to support the adjacent runs of the endless belts l1 and II throughout their lengths and to cause the belts properly to engage and move the articles along the guideways.

Desirably means are also provided for pressing the articles against the respective endless belts to insure proper forwarding of the articles. In the construction illustrated herein such means comprises a series of suitably spaced rollers II which are mounted in the forked ends of levers 32 which are fulcrumed upon shafts 33, the ends of which are Journaled in the intermediate parallel track members II. The opposite ends of the levers 32 are connected to flexible leaf springs 34, the forward ends of which are secured in shafts 35 which are movable upwardly and downwardly in suitable preferably circular recesses in the track members ll. Means operable by the movemembers, as will hereinafter be described, raise and lower the shafts II in such manner that the rollers II will alternately clamp the articles against the traveling belts l1 and 23 as they are carried along the respective guideways by the belts, thereby maintaining the proper spacing and registry of the articles.

Means are provided for arresting a single article or group of articles temporarily in predetermined positions in order that operations may be performed upon the said articles during the dwell thereof.

As illustrated herein, means are provided for alternately clamping the article or groups of articles in the lower guideway upon the lower track members I2 and for clamping the articles in the upper guideway upon the upper track members it. This mechanism comprises parallel bars 31 preferably of a width equal to that of the track members It which are suitably mounted upon and extend lengthwise of the track bars l4 and slidabiy engage the sides thereof. The clamping bars 31 are provided with upwardly and rearwardly inclined slots II and II located respectively adjacent the front and rear ends of the clamping bars 31. A. shaft 40, which is mounted in the intermediate track members it, extends into the rear slots 19, and a shaft ll which is rotatably mounted in the side frames I and extends through the front end portion of the intermediate track members I4, extends through the slots 38 in the forward ends of the clamping 'bars 31.

The shaft II is is provided with fins or teeth li -having rounded end portions which engage complementary recesses in the upper walls of the slots 38 (see Fig. 8), so that when the shaft II is rotated in a clockwise direction, the line 4! will raise the forward end of the clamping bars 31 and by reason of the inclination of the slot 38 will move the clamping bars rearwardly. At the same time the inclined slots ll at the rear ends of the, clamping members 31 wilLsimilarly raise the rear ends of the clamping bars an equal distance, thereby causing the clamping bars to clamp the articles in the upper guideway firmly against the upper track bars II, and arrest the movement of the articles while the upper belt continues its movement. During the dwell of the articles thus clamped against the upper track bars another article or group of articles will be forwarded along the lower guideway, while an operation is performed upon those which dwell in the upper guideway.

When the shaft ll is rotated in the opposite or counterclockwise direction, articles in the lower guideway will be similarly clamped by the clamping bars 31 upon the lower track bars l2, and caused to dwell to enable an operation or operations to be performed upon them, as shown in Fig. 'l.

The clamping bars 31 are provided with a series of horizontal slots 45 into which extend the ends of the shafts II for actuating the levers 32 having the presser rolls Ii.

As the clamping bars 51 are moved downwardly and forwardly by the counterclockwise rotation of the shaft ii. the shafts 35 (which are connected by leaf springs 34 to the-forward ends of the levers 32), are moved downwardly thereby raising the rollers ll, into yielding engagement with the articles upon the upper guideway thus clamping them against the lower run of the upper conveyer 23, as illustrated in Fig. 8. This movement of the clamping bars 51 serves to clamp the articles traveling in the lower guldeway against the track members I! of the lower guideways, and arrest them so that operations may be performed upon them during the dwell. Obviously the reverse action takes place when the shaft ll is rotated in a clockwise direction to clamp the articles against the upper track members II. By reason of this construction, the article or group of articles in one guideway is caused to dwell while another article or group of' articles is being forwarded to a predetermined position or predetermined positions in the other guldeway.

Any suitable mechanism may be provided for performing an operation or operations upon the articles or group of articles in the respective guideways during the dwell thereof. The preferred embodiment of the invention is illustrated herein as adapted to seal contiguous sides of sheets of thermoplastic material, or sheets having edge portions of thermoplastic material adapted to be sealed together by the application of heat and pressure, the sheets being folded midway of their length so that when the side edges are thus sealed together, a waterproof bag or envelope is produced. Such an envelope may be used alon or may form the lining of a box which when filled with liquid, semi-solid, or solid material, and the open end when similarly sealed will form a hermetically-sealed container.

The means for sealing together the overlapping contiguous side edges as illustrated herein comprises heated upper and lower pairs of bars which extend longitudinally in parallelism to the upper and lower track members respectively and an intermediate heated 'bar which extends in parallelism with the intermediate track members with mechanism for raising and lowering the intermediate heated bar to cause it alternately to clamp and heat-seal the side edges of the articles during the dwell thereof in one guideway, while an article or group of articles is being moved to sealing positions in the other guldeway.

The heat-sealing mechanism illustratedin the accompanying drawings comprises supplemental side frames 44 which are slideably mounted adiacent their front ends upon the tie rods I, and at their rear ends upon the tie rod ll. The side frames 44 are provided at their upper edges with similar inwardly extending horizontal flanges 45, and suitable metallic heating members II, which are secured to the underside of the inner ends of the respective horizontal flanges 45, present horizontal faces which are flush with the under faces of the tracks ll of the upper guldeway.

Any suitable means may be provided for supplying heat to the respective heating members, such as electric heating units ll within and extending longitudinally thereof.

The supplemental frames 44 are also provided with lower inwardly extending flanges 45 having mounted upon the upper surfaces of their inner ends similar heating members II, the upper surfaces of which are flush with the upper surfaces of the lower track members It.

Intermediate heating members 55 cooperate alternately with the upper and lower heating members 48 and 49 to heat-seal the edge seams of articles carried respectively by the upper and lower guideways. As illustrated herein, the intermediate heating members 55 are provided at their front and rear ends with dovetail extensions which are seated in complementary slots in the bifurcated ends of arms iii and are clamped therein by screws 52. The arms H which are thus secured to or adjacent to the front and rear ends of each intermediate heating member 50, are provided at their opposite ends with vertical apertures to receive vertical actuating bars 53, which are mounted in suitable bushings 54 and 55 in the flanges 45 and 48 respectively. The arms 5| are fixedly but adiustably secured to the actuating bars 53 by set screws 55.

Spiral springs 51 which are interposed between the upper sides of each of the arms 5| and the upper horizontal flanges 45 of the side frames serve normally to force the arms 5| downwardly so that the intermediate heating members 50 will cooperate with the complementary lower heating bar 49 to heat-seam the contiguous edges of the articles dwelling in the lower guldeway.

Suitable means are provided for raising the actuating bars 53 to cause the intermediate heating members 50 to cooperate with the upper heating bars 46 to heat-seal the articles when dwelling in the upper guldeway. As illustrated herein the lower ends 59 of the actuating bars 55 have secured to them follower rolls 58 which engage similar pairs of cams at the front and. rear ends of the supplemental frame. The cams 59 having hubs in with reduced and portions which are journaled in the supplemental side frames 44 and are held in place by collars 52 which are secured by set screws to the hubs at the outside of the frame 44. The hubs ill of the cams at the front end of the machine are slidably mounted by feather and slot connections upon a shaft 63 adjacent the front end of the machine and the hubs of similar cams are similarly mounted upon a shaft 64 adjacent the rear end of the machine, the shafts 63 and 64 being journaled in the main frames I of the machine.

Suitable means are provided for moving the side frames ll toward and from each other properly to position the heat-seaming members with respect to the edges of the articles of diflerent widths which are to be seamed. This is accom-.

'plished in the embodiment of the invention, as

illustrated in dotted lines in Fig. 4, by providing rods OI, the opposite end portions of which are reversely screw threaded to engage the complementary screw threads in the respective side frames. Suitable means are provided for simultaneously rotating both of the screw threaded rods ll, which as illustrated herein comprises sprockets 88 secured respectively to the rods ll connected by an endless sprocket chain I]. A suitable crank (not shown) is provided for rotating one of the screw threaded rods II. By reason of this construction the heat-seaming members may be positioned at any required distance from the guideways for the articles prop-' erlyto engage any desired portion of the superimposed edges of the articles to be sealed.

It is believed to be obvious that by reason of the construction above described single long articles may be successively sealed or otherwise operated upon, or that a predetermined number of like articles forming a group may be simultaneously sealed or otherwise operated upon when successively fed into one of the guideways or alternatively into the upper and lower guideways.

An important feature of the invention consists in providing adjustable means for selectively feeding single articles or a predetermined number of shorter articles forming a group into the respective guideways. The feeding mechanism for accomplishing this purpose which is illustrated in the accompanying drawings comprises a magazine or hopper to receive a stack of blanks or other articles to be operated upon, and which is adjustable to receive stacks of articles of different lengths.

As illustrated herein, the hopper comprises a front section 68 which is mounted upon rods extending upwardly and forwardly from a suitable bracket 69 carried by the arch II at the front end portion of the machine. The front section 68 of the hopper has an open bottom to permit the front edge portion of the lowermost article in the stack to rest upon the periphery of a cylindrical feeding wheel ID. A gate Ii is interposed between the front hopper section '8 and the bracket 89 and is provided with a rearwardly extending flange I2 having mounted therein an adjusting screw 13 which engages a complementary screw threaded socket in the bracket 69. The screw 13 is provided with a milled head 14 by means of which the screw may be rotated readily to adjust the lower edge of the gate II accurately with respect to the periphery of the feed wheel It so that but a single blank or article will be removed from the hopper by suitable means upon the feed wheel adapted, preferably frictionally, to engage the under surface of the article.

The means for mounting the hopper upon the bracket 89, which is illustrated herein, comprises parallel rods 15 which are respectively seated in sockets 18 in flanges 11 extending laterally from the bracket 69 and the rear section is of the hopper is provided with laterally extending bosses II which are slidably mounted upon the rods II. The front hopper section 19 is likewise provided with laterally extending bosses 80 which are slidably mounted upon the bars 15 and adapted to be held in adjusted positions thereto to supportthe front end of the stack of blanks or other articles to be operatedupon. The front homer section II is provided with a front wall II which merges into a preferably downwardly inclined bottom wall If to support the front end of the -length which are adapted to be singly operated upon by the sealing mechanism or other means for operating upon the article. As shown herein, the front hopper section is illustrated in full lines in an intermediate position and is illustrated in dotted lines adjacent the rear section of the hopper in position to support a stack of short blanks, a predetermined number of which are to be fed to the sealing mechanism to form a group adapted simultaneously to be sealed or otherwise operated upon as heretofore described.

In order to feed successively single articles, or selectively to feed successively a plurality of shorter articles to form a' group an adjustable cylinder is provided which as shown herein has suitably spaced detachable means for frictionally engaging the under surface of the lowermost article of the stack so that by employing a predetermined number of said frictional engaging means the cylinder may be adapted upon each revolution to forward into the guideway one article or a predetermined number of articles to form a group not exceeding in group length that of a single article. In the preferred construction illustrated the periphery of the feeding cylinder is provided with a plurality of suitably spaced similar longitudinal rectangular recesses ll in which frictional members or non-frictional blocks having peripheral surfaces forming continuations of the surface of the cylinder may be seated.

One of the blocks containing frictional articleengaging members is illustrated in Fig. 2 and comprises a steel block adapted to be seated in a recess 84 \and fixedly secured therein by a screw 86. The block 85 is provided with a longitudinally extending recess having a cylindrically curved bottom 81 and an undercut forward wall II. A sheet section of frictional material 89, such as rubberjwhich is adapted to be seated within the recess in the block 85 with its periphery coincident with the curvature of the cylinder, is provided with a forwardly extending tapering section which extends beneath the undercut wall II and is engaged by the ridge portion of a clamping plate ll which is mounted upon guides pins 02 seated in the block 05 and is forced into clamping engagement with the tapered portion of the rubber block by a screw 93. The blocks containing frictional material may be selectively applied to such recess in the periphery of the cylinder as may be necessary to feed a predetermined number of articles upon each half revolution of the cylinder, the other recess of the cylinder being filled with similar blocks having a peripheral surface coincident with the surface of the cylinder but not presenting frictional surfaces. One of these non-frictional blocks, which may be thus substituted, is illustrated in Fig. 3 and comprises a preferably steel block 94 resenting a cylindrical surface forming a continuation of the cylindrical periphery of the cylinder and secured in the socket II by the screws 30.

The construction illustrated in Fig. 1 shows blocks having frictional surfaces in three of the sockets symmetrically disposed on each half of the cylinder. Where articles of maximum length are to be fed the frictional blocks are mounted in diametrically opposite recesses herein indicated as a, so that a long article may be fed upon each half revolution of the cylinder.

Where articles half of the maximum length are to be fed in groups of twoto the mechanism for acting upon the article intermediate blocks having frictional surfaces are placed in sockets indicated as b.

Where groups of three articles are to be fed upon each half revolution of the cylinder blocks having frictionalsurfaces are introduced into the sockets indicated as c and where articles onefourth of the length of the maximum article are to be fed blocks having frictional material are introduced into the sockets indicated as d and it will be noted that in this arrangement one of the sockets is the same as that previously indicated as b for half length articles. In any case each of the sockets which are not to be provided with frictional feeding mechanism are filled with a non-frictional block 34. Obviously other suitably spaced sockets may be provided for feeding single articles or predetermined groups containing more than four articles as will be readily understood by .those skilled in the art.

Suitable mechanism is provided for actuating the feeding mechanism, the mechanism for forwarding articles along the guideway, and for arresting them in proper position and for operat-'- ing the sealing mechanism or other means for operating upon the articles in properly timed relation to the feeding mechanism.

In the construction illustrated the feed drum 101s mounted upon a main shaft 95 which is journaled in the side frames I of the machine and is driven from any suitable source of power. The main shaft is provided with a sprocket 03 which drives an endless sprocket chain 91, the upper run of which passes over a sprocket 90 upon the shaft 33 at the front endportion of the machine, thence beneath the sprocket 33 on the shaft 6| near the rear end of the machine, thence upwardly over a sprocket I00 on the shaft 22 which drives the lower conveyer belt I1, and thence downwardly under an idle sprocket IOI returning therefrom to the driving sprocket wheel 96 on the main shaft. The shaft 22 is provided with a gear I02 which meshes with a similar gear I03 upon the shaft 21 upon which the pulley 26 of the.

upper conveyer belt 23 is mounted. The lower and upper conveyer belts I1 and 23 are consequently driven continuously at the same speed and are adapted respectively to forward single articles or articles forming groups along the upper and lower guideways where the single article or groups of articles are alternately caused to dwell and to be operated upon in the manner heretofore described.

The mechanism for guiding a single article or a series of articles to form a group alternately to the lower and upper guideways upon each half revolution of the feeding cylinder comprises a switch I04 which is fixedly mounted upon a shaft I05 which is journaled in the front end of the intermediate track members It. The shaft I05 has fixedly secured to it an arm I00 which is pivotally connected to a forked head I01 of a pitman I00 the lower end of which is connected to a fork Illyhich embraces a cylindrical collar ill on the main shaft 03. The forked member I03 is provided with a follower roller III which engages a cam I I2'which is fixedly sqmred to the shaft 33 and is so constructed and positioned as to raise the arm I03 and swing the switch 104 upwardly to direct the articles along the lower guideway, as illustrated in Fig. 1, during one-half revolution of the feeding cylinder 10 and to swing the switc I04 downwardly to guide the article or group ,0 articles along the upper guideway during the other half revolution of the cylinder 10. Desirably a horizontal guide plate is interposed between the periphery of the cylinder and the leading end of the upper run of the conveyer belt I1 to insure proper delivery of the articles upon said upper run when the switch I04 is swung upwardly to guide the articles alon the lower guideway, the switch I04 being sufhcient to guide the articles in the upper guideway when swung downwardly.

When a single articles or group -of articles have been fed to a predetermined position along one of the guideways the clamping members 31 are actuated to clamp the article or group of articles upon a guideway to permit an operation to be performed upon them while articles are being fed along the other guideway. As illustrated in Fig. 1 the mechanisms are in the position in which a group of articles has been properly positioned upon the lower guideway and the clamping members forced downwardly to clamp them against the lower track members I2. It has heretofore been pointed out that the clamping movements of the clamping members 31 are produced by the rotation of the shaft 4| with its fins 42 in the slots 33 of the members 31, as shown in Fig. 8.

The mechanism for oscillating the shaft II comprises an arm II3 which is fixedly secured to the shaft ti and is pivotally connected at its end to the upper end of a pitman ill, the lower end of which is provided with a fork II5 which embraces a sleeve IIO upon the shaft 63. Thefork I I5 is provided with a follower roll I I1 which engages a cam III which is fixedly secured to the shaft 03 and is so constructed and positioned as to raise the pitman I and cause the arm I I3 to rotate the shaft ll in a counterclockwise direction, thereby to move the clamping bars 31 forwardly and downwardly and thereby clamp the articles in the lower guideway upon the lower track members I2 during approximately one-half revolution of the shaft 33. The cam is so constructed that during the other half revolution it will move the clamping bars 31 longitudinally rearwardly and simultaneously raise the same to clamp the articles in the upper guideway against the lower faces of the track members I3, as heretofore described.

By reason of this construction the articles in one guideway will be caused to dwell for the performance of an operation upon the articles while another article or group of articles is being fed into a predetermined position or positions in the other guideway.

The means for sealing the articles while thus being caused to dwell in the lower guideway, which is illustrated herein, comprises the cams 50 which are mounted respectively upon the shafts 33 at the front end of the machine and the shaft 34 at the rear end of the machine which engage the follower rolls 53 upon the lower ends of the actuatingbars 53 for the intermediate heating members 50, the cams 59 being so constructed as to permit the heating bars 50 to be forced downwardly by the springs 51 in clamping relation to the edge portions of the articlesto be sealed, as illustrated in Fig. 7, or to be raised against the pressure of the springs 51 to cause the heating members so to clamp the articles against the upper heating members 46 to seal the edges of the articles in the upper guideway.

Where articles of a maximum length are to be operated upon and the hopper section 19 positioned near the outer ends of the supportin bars I5, as illustrated in dotted lines in Fig, 1, means desirably are provided for supporting the central portion of the stack to prevent sagging. A preferred form of mechanism which is illustrated herein comprises a roller lls'which is mounted upon the forked head of a rod I20 which is adjustably clamped in a split bracket l2| mounted upon the tie rod 4 at the front end of the machine. The split bracket III is provided with ears which are engaged by a clamping screw having a handle in by means of which it can be'actuated to clamp the rod I20 in any adhesively secured to the end portion III which unites the top and body sections of the box and the superimposed edges desirably but not necessarily are provided with a. narrow area of thermoplastic adhesive III. The liner desirably is of greater width than the top of the box and the foldable side portions I 28 thereof but of narrower width than the bottom of the box and its foldable sides so that when the box is forwarded longitudinally along a. guideway oi the machine the heated members 46 or 48 and intermediate heated member 5|) may be positioned to engage only the side edge portions of the liner and the side portions or the body of the box blank which adJusted position so that the roller I09 will properly support the central portion of the stack of articles intermediate 01' the front and rear hopper sections 18 and 68.

While the present invention is illustrated in the main figures of thedrawings as comprising a construction having two guideways tor the articles to be sealed or otherwise operated upon, it is obvious that the upper guideway including the track and the article iorwarding means may be dispensed with and only a single guideway employed in which case the feeding mechanism may be driven at half speed or a feeding cylinder provided with frictional feeding blocks properly spaced throughout the circumference of the cylinder may be employed. Such a mechanism is illustrated in Fig. 5 in which only such parts as are essential are designated by the same numerals as are employed in the main figures of the drawings.

One of the principal objects of the invention is to provide means for sealing the superimposed contiguous edges of the box liners of thermoplastic material or having edge portions formed 01' thermoplastic. material or provided with thermoplastic cement, the liners being previously pre-i'olded midway oi their length and secured at one or both ends to the complementary portions of a box blank which is provided with suitable i'old lines. A box blank provided with a liner of this character is illustrated in Fig. 6. The box blank illustrated herein comprises a rectangular body portion III having suitable longitudinal and transverse fold lines to provide means for forming side and end members of the box and a top portion in which is integrally connected to the bottom portion by a wall III having a central fold line iii to permit the top to be collapsed'upon' the body portion. The top and bottom portions each have a rectangular central portion I21 of equal area. The top member is provided with a longitudinal fold line providing side flaps I28 and an end flap I28 for the end oi the box. The body is provided. with longitudinal fold lines corresponding to those at the top of the box with end recesses Ill and [3| to permit infolding of end tabs in and III which form continuations oi the side members I the sides of the box.

The box blank is provided with a lining oi. thin thermoplastic material such as a Cellophane or cellulose thermoplastic material which is folded midway of its length and preferably extend therebeneath.

When a box blank thus constructed or a group of box blanks thus constructed are arrested in the respective guideways by the clamping members and the heating members clamped upon the side edges the liners will be properly side-seamed throughout their lengths to provide a waterproof liner which can be filled with liquid, semiliquid, or solid material. The open end portion may thereafter be similar heat-sealed to provide a hermetically sealed container and the box properly folded to form a rigid protective covering for the receptacle.

It is som times desirable to bend down the side portionsof the body of the box in such manner as to expose the side edges only of the liner for sealing purposes. Suitable means such as a plow or deflector may be provided for deflecting downwardly or upwardly the sides or a portion of the sides of the box blank as the blank is introduced into and during its movement through the guideways into the position illustrated in Fig. 10, thereby to expose the superimposed contiguous edges of the liner which are to be sealed together.

By reason of the present invention, therefore, thermoplastic articles, or articles having thermoplastic adhesive along their contiguous side edges may be rapidly sealed while secured in proper position upon a box blank, the timing of theof one, in which an article or group of articles is caused to dwell in one guideway and be sealed while a similar article or group 01' articles is being fed into the other guideway, the capacity of the machine is doubled over that in which a single seam-sealing operation is performed.

While the invention is particularly described herein as embodied in a machine for performing the operation of sealing side seams of liners of thermoplastic material or having side edge portions provided with thermoplastic adhesive material while attached to box blanks, it will be understood that other operations may be performed upon articles similarly fed singly or in groups and caused to dwell, such, for example, as operations performed by perforating mechanism, printing or stamping mechanism, string applying mechanism, etc.

It will therefore be understood that the particular embodiment or embodiments of the invention which are shown and described herein are of an illustrativ character and not restrictive of the meaning and scope oi. the following claims.

Having thus described the invention, what is conveyor cooperating claimed as new, and desired to be secured by Letters Patent, is:

l. A machine adjustable to operate upon a single long article or a group of aligned short articles in the same period of time comprising a guideway for the article or articles, means for successively feeding articles to the guideway, means for adjusting the feeding means to deliver a single article or a predetermined number of shorter articles to form a group not exceeding in group length the length of the long article, means for moving the articles along said guideway, means for causing the article or the group of articles to dwell, and means for performing an operation upon the single article or articles of the group during said dwell.

2. A machine adjustable to operate upon a single long article or a group of aligned short -articles comprising a guideway, a continuously operating therewith to move the articles along the guideway, means for successively delivering the articles to the guideway, having adjustable means to deliver a long article or a predetermined number of shorter articles to form a group not exceeding in length that of the long article, means for temporarily arresting the article or the group ofarticles in predetermined position upon said guideway, and means for performing an operation upon arrested.

3.. A machine adjustable to operate upon a single long article or upon groups of aligned short articles comprising separate guideways for the articles, adjustable feeding means for selectively delivering to the respective guideways a long article or a predetermined number or shorter. articles forming a group not exceedin in group length the length of the long article, means for alternately directing the articles or predetermined groups of articles to the respective guideways, means for moving the articles along the respective guideways, means for alternately, temporarily arresting the article or group of articles upon one of said guideways to cause a dwell thereof during the movement of the articles along the other guideway, and means for performing an operation upon the arrested article or group of articles during said dwell.

4. A machine adjustable to operate upon a single long article or a group of aligned short articles comprising a stationary track and a continuously operating conveyor cooperating therewith to move the article or articles along said track, adjustable means for selectively delivering single long articles or a predetermined number of short articles not exceeding in group length the length or the long article, means for temporarily clamping the article or group of articles in predetermined position upon said track during the same predetermined period of time, and means for performing an operation upon each article while thus arrested.

5. A machine adjustable to operate upon a single long article or a group of aligned short articles comprising a track and a continuously operating endless conveyor cooperating therewith to move the article or articles along said track, adjustable means for successively delivering to the track in the same period of time a long article or a group of short articles, means for temporarily clamping the article or group of articles upon the track in predetermined position as dwell, and means for performing an operation upon each article during said dwell.

6. A machine adjustable to operate upon a single long article or group of aligned short articles each article while thus to cause the articles, to

comprising a guideway having cooperating upper and lower pairs of stationary parallel track members to guide the articles therebetween, means for moving the articles along said tracks, adjustable means for successively delivering to said guideway, single long articles or alternativelyior suecessively delivering to said guideway a plurality oi suitably spaced shorter articles to form a group not exceeding in group length that of the long article. clamping means mounted upon one of said pairs of tracl; members, and means for actuating the same to clamp the single article or the group of articles temporarily upon the other pair of track members to cause the articles to dwell, and means'for performing an operation upon the article or articles during said dwell.

'7. A machine adjustable to operate upon a, single long article or a group of longitudinally spaced short articles comprising a guideway having cooperating main and complementary pairs of stationary parallel track members to guide the articles therebetween, adjustable feeding means selectively operable to deliver long articles successively to said guideway or alternatively to deliver to said guideway a plurality of suitably spaced short articles to form a group not exceeding in group length the length of the long article, a continuously moving endless carrier mounted on the pair of main track members to engage and move the articles along said track, clamping means mounted upon the complementary pair of said track members, and means for actuating the same to clamp the article or a group of articles temporarily upon the main pair of track members to cause the article or articles to dwell, and means for performing an operation upon each article during said dwell.

8. A machine adjustable to operate upon a single long article or a group of aligned short articles comprising upper and lower pairs of stationary main parallel track members, a pair of complementary stationary parallel track members between and spaced from the upper'and lower pairs of main track members respectively to provide upper and lower guideways, adjustable feedin means selectively operable to deliver long articles successively to the respective guideways or alternatively to deliver to the respective guideways a plurality of suitably spaced short/articles to form a group not exceeding in group length the length of the long article, means for moving successive articles along respective guideways, means for selectively directing single articles or groups of aligned articles alternately to the respective guideways, clamping means mounted on the complementary pair of track members, means for actuating said clamping means alternately to clamp the articles in the upper guideway or the lower guideway temporarily upon the upper or lower pairs of track members, to cause the articles to dwell, and means for performing an operation upon the article or group of articles in one guideway during said dwell therein while the article or groups of articles are being moved along the other guideway.

. 9. A machine adjustable to operate upon a single long article or a group of suitably spaced alined articles comprising upper and lower pairs of stationary main parallel track members, a pair of complementary stationary arallel track members between and spaced from the upper and lower pairs of parallel main track members respectlvely to provide upper and lower guideways, adjustable feeding means seelctively operable to deliver long articles successively to the respective guideways or alternatively to deliver to the respective guideways a plurality of suitably spaced short articles to form a group not exceeding in group length the length of the long article, means for moving successive articles along the respective guideways, means for selectively directing single articles or groups of articles to the respective guideways, clamping bars mounted upon and movable forwardly and backwardly longitudinally of the complementary parallel track. members, means for actuating said clamping bars, means for alternately raising and lowering the clamping bars during the longitudinal movement thereof to clamp the articles within one guideway upon the main track bars of said guideway and to cause the same to dwell, and means for performing an operation uponthe article or group of articles during said dwell while articles or groups of articles are being moved along the other guideway. 10. A machine adjustable to operate upon a single long article or a group of aligned short articles comprising upper and lower pairs of stationary main parallel track members, a pair of complementary stationary parallel track members between and spaced from the upper and lower pairs of main track members respectively to provideguideways, means for moving successive articles along the respective guideways, adjustable feeding means selectively operableto deliver long artioles successively to the respective guideways or alternatively to deliver 'to the respective guideways a plurality of suitably spaced short articles to form a group not exceeding in group length the length of the long article, clamping bars mounted upon and movable longitudinally of the complementary parallel track members, means for actuating said clamping bars, means for alternately raising and lowering the clamping bars during the longitudinal movement thereof to clamp the articles within a guideway upon the main track bars of said guideway and to cause the same to dwell, guide roller mechanism pivotally mounted upon and between the respective pairs of complementary track members, and means actuated by the means for raising and lowering movements of said clamping bars, which clamp the articles against one pair of main track bars, to cause the rollers to engage the articles moving along the other guideway and press them against the forwarding means thereof and means for performing an operation upon the article or group of articles during their dwell while the articles or groups of articles are being moved along the other guideway.

11. A machine adjustable to operate upon a single long article or a group of suitably spaced short alined articles comprising upper and lower pairs of stationary main parallel track members, a pair of complementary stationary parallel track members between and spaced from the upper and lower pairs of main track members respectively to provide guideways, traveling endless articleforwarding belts mounted upon and between each pair of main track members, adjustable feeding means selectively operable to deliver long articles successively to the respective guideways or alternatively to deliver the respective guideways a plurality of suitably spaced short articles to form a group not exceeding in group length the length of the long article, clamping bars mounted upon and movable longitudinally of the complementary paralleltrack members, means for actuating said clamping bars. means for alternately raising aridfi lowering the clamping bars during the longitudinal movement thereof to clamp the articles within one guideway upon the main track bars of said guideway and to cause the same to dwell, a series of guide roller mechanism pivotally mounted upon and between said compiemen.. tary track members, and means actuated by the raising and lowering movements of said clamping bars which clamp the articles against respective main track bars, to cause the rollers to engage the articles noving along the other guideway and press them against the forwarding belt thereof and means for performing an operation upon the article or group of articles during said dwell while the articles or groups of articles are being moved along the other guideway.

12. A machine for heat-seaming together the walls of receptacle blanks of, or having contiguous edge portions, embodying thermoplastic material which comprises a guideway for the blanks, means for moving the blanks, along the guideway, feeding means and means for adjusting the same selectively to deliver to said guideway in the same period of time a long blank, or a predetermined number of aligned shorter blanks to form a group, means for temporarily arresting the blank or group of blanks to causea predetermined dwell. and means for applying heat to the contiguous edge portions of said blanks, or group of blanks during said dwell.

13. A machine for heat-seaming together the walls of receptacle blanks of, or having contiguous edge portions embodying thermoplastic material, which comprises a guideway for the blanks; means for moving th blanks along the guideway, feeding means and means for adjusting the same selectively to deliver to said guideway in the same period of time a long black, or a predetermined number of aligned shorter blanks to form a group. means for temporarily arresting the blanks, or group of blanks, to cause a predetermined dwell, relatively movable parallel heated bars extending in parallelism with said guideway spaced to receive the edge portion of the blanks therebetween, and means for causing said heated bars to clamp and thermallyto unite the edge portions of the blanks together during said dwell.

14. A machine for heat-seaming together the walls of receptacle blanks of, or having contiguous edge portions embodying thermoplastic material which comprises upper and lower guideways for the blanks, means for moving the blanks along the respective guideways, feeding means and means for adjusting the same selectively to deliver alternately to the respective guideways a long blank, or a predetermined number of aligned shorter blanks to form a group, means for alternately arresting the blank, or group of blanks, in one of the respective guideways to cause a predetermined dwell while a blank or a group of blanks is being moved along the other guideway, main stationary heated bars extending in parallelism with the respective guideways, complementary vertically movable heating bars intermediate of said main heating bars, and means for alternately raising and lowering said comple mentary heated bars to clamp and thermally to unite the edge portions of the blanks together during the dwell of said blank or group of blanks, in the respective guideways.

15. A machine for heat-seaming together the.

walls of receptacle blanks of, or having contiguous edge portions embodying thermoplastic material which comprises upper and lower guideways for the blanks, means for moving the blanks along the respective guideways, feeding means and means for adjusting the same selectively to deliver alternately to the respective guideways, a long blank, or a predetermined number of aligned shorter blanks to form a group, means for alternately arresting the blank or g p of blanks in one of the respective guideways to cause a predetermined dwell while a blank or a group of blanks is being moved along the other guideway, main stationary heated bars extending in parallelism with the respective guideways, complementary vertically movable heating bars intermediate of said main heating bars, and means for raising and lowering said complementary heated bars to clamp and thermally to unite the ed e portions of the blanks together during the dwell of said blank or group of blanks, and means for simultaneously adjusting said heating bars laterally toward or from said guideways.

16. The method of sealing the superimposed edge portions of a liner of thermoplastic material, or having edge portions provided with thermoplastic adhesive, which liner 'is applied to a box blank having portions underlying oroverlylng the edge portions of the liner, which comprises selectively moving in the same period of time along a track a long box blank or a predetermined number of aligned shorter box blanks with the liners applied thereto, temporarily arresting the same in said predetermined position to cause a dwell, deflecting during the feeding movement the portions of the box blank which underlie or overlie the superimposed edge portions of the liner to expose said edge portions, and clamping together the continuous edge portions of the blank or Patent llo. 2,379.3 61

, CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION.-

LEON E. LA BOMBARD.

\ ii 9 group of blanks by cooperating heating means during said dwell.

17. A machine for heat-seamingtogether the walls of receptacle blanks of, or having contiguous longitudinal edge portions embodying thermoplastic material, comprising a magazine for a stack of blanks, a rotatable cylinder having a series of detachable blank-engaging members, one or more of which can be selectively employed to deliver from the stack a single blank or a series of aligned shorter blanks to form a group, a guideway to receive the blank or blanks successively delivered, havingupper and lower pairs of parallel track members of sufllcient length to receive a long blank or a group oi shorter blanks, continuously operable means for forwarding the blanks along said guideway, a pair of parallel clamping members, mounted on one of said pairs of track members and means for moving the same into clamping engagement with the other pair of track members to cause the blank or group of blanks to dwell, parallel pairs of heating bars suitably spaced from opposite sides of and parallel with said track members, means for moving one of said heating bars relatively to the other during the dwell of said blank or group of blanks to engage and heat-seam the edge portions thereof, and means for synchronizing the movements of said clamping members and heat-seaming members to the revolutions of said cylinder, whereby a roup ofblanks can be heat-seamed in the same period of time as that required for heat-seaming a single blank.

LEON E. LA BOMBARD.

fIt is hereby certified error appears .in the' printed specification 0 the above numbered patent requiring correction as follows: Page 7, second column, line 7);, claim 9, for "aeelct'ivit'y'Y read "selectively-- 8, second column, line 57, claim 13, for "black' read ---blank--- page "9 first column, line 35, claim l6, f'or "continuous 'fread --contigr ious--- and that the said Letters Patent should be read with this correction therein that the same y conform to the record of.-the case in the Patent Office I Signed and sealed this 25th day' of September, A. D. 191.5.

(Seal) Leslie Frazer First Assistant Commissioner: of Patents.

along the respective guideways, feeding means and means for adjusting the same selectively to deliver alternately to the respective guideways, a long blank, or a predetermined number of aligned shorter blanks to form a group, means for alternately arresting the blank or g p of blanks in one of the respective guideways to cause a predetermined dwell while a blank or a group of blanks is being moved along the other guideway, main stationary heated bars extending in parallelism with the respective guideways, complementary vertically movable heating bars intermediate of said main heating bars, and means for raising and lowering said complementary heated bars to clamp and thermally to unite the ed e portions of the blanks together during the dwell of said blank or group of blanks, and means for simultaneously adjusting said heating bars laterally toward or from said guideways.

16. The method of sealing the superimposed edge portions of a liner of thermoplastic material, or having edge portions provided with thermoplastic adhesive, which liner 'is applied to a box blank having portions underlying oroverlylng the edge portions of the liner, which comprises selectively moving in the same period of time along a track a long box blank or a predetermined number of aligned shorter box blanks with the liners applied thereto, temporarily arresting the same in said predetermined position to cause a dwell, deflecting during the feeding movement the portions of the box blank which underlie or overlie the superimposed edge portions of the liner to expose said edge portions, and clamping together the continuous edge portions of the blank or Patent llo. 2,379.3 61

, CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION.-

LEON E. LA BOMBARD.

\ ii 9 group of blanks by cooperating heating means during said dwell.

17. A machine for heat-seamingtogether the walls of receptacle blanks of, or having contiguous longitudinal edge portions embodying thermoplastic material, comprising a magazine for a stack of blanks, a rotatable cylinder having a series of detachable blank-engaging members, one or more of which can be selectively employed to deliver from the stack a single blank or a series of aligned shorter blanks to form a group, a guideway to receive the blank or blanks successively delivered, havingupper and lower pairs of parallel track members of sufllcient length to receive a long blank or a group oi shorter blanks, continuously operable means for forwarding the blanks along said guideway, a pair of parallel clamping members, mounted on one of said pairs of track members and means for moving the same into clamping engagement with the other pair of track members to cause the blank or group of blanks to dwell, parallel pairs of heating bars suitably spaced from opposite sides of and parallel with said track members, means for moving one of said heating bars relatively to the other during the dwell of said blank or group of blanks to engage and heat-seam the edge portions thereof, and means for synchronizing the movements of said clamping members and heat-seaming members to the revolutions of said cylinder, whereby a roup ofblanks can be heat-seamed in the same period of time as that required for heat-seaming a single blank.

LEON E. LA BOMBARD.

fIt is hereby certified error appears .in the' printed specification 0 the above numbered patent requiring correction as follows: Page 7, second column, line 7);, claim 9, for "aeelct'ivit'y'Y read "selectively-- 8, second column, line 57, claim 13, for "black' read ---blank--- page "9 first column, line 35, claim l6, f'or "continuous 'fread --contigr ious--- and that the said Letters Patent should be read with this correction therein that the same y conform to the record of.-the case in the Patent Office I Signed and sealed this 25th day' of September, A. D. 191.5.

(Seal) Leslie Frazer First Assistant Commissioner: of Patents. 

